Abu Dhabi – United Arab Emirates, First Published Nov 2, 2021, 11:22 PM IST
Abu Dhabi: Pakistan beat Namibia by 45 runs to advance to the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup 2021. Chasing Pakistan’s target of 190, Namibia were bowled out for 144 for five in 20 overs. Namibia’s top scorer is David Wiese (41 not out).
Craig Williams scored 40 for Namibia. With the fourth win, Pakistan leads the group with eight points. This is Pakistan’s fifth appearance in seven T20 World Cups. Pakistan 189-2 in 20 overs, Namibia 144-5 in 20 overs.
Namibia without batting to victory
Namibia struggled to hold on to victory against a strong Pakistan bowling attack. Hasan Ali dismissed opener Michael Van Lingen (4), but Stephen Bard and Craig Williams combined for a half-century to take Namibia to 50 for the second wicket.
After Berard (29) was sent off, captain Gerard Erasmus (15) and David Weiss (43 * off 31 balls) struggled to ease Namibia’s defeat. For Pakistan, Hasan Ali took one wicket for 22 runs in four overs while Imad Wasim took one wicket for 13 runs in three overs. Harris Rauf and Shadab Khan also took wickets each.
Earlier, Pakistan captain Babar Azam and opener Mohammad Rizwan scored 189 runs for the loss of two wickets in 20 overs.
Rizwan was Pakistan’s top scorer with 79 not out off 50 balls. Babur Assam were bowled out for 70 off 49 balls. Mohammad Hafeez, who was unbeaten on 32 off 16 balls, was also instrumental in Pakistan’s victory.
Slowly but surely Pakistan was on fire
Rizwan and Babur won the toss and elected to bat, but lost the toss and elected to field. In the power play, Pakistan scored only 29 runs without losing a wicket. Initially, Rizwan struggled to find the rhythm, but as Babur collapsed, the Pakistan scoreboard jumped.
In the 10th over, Pakistan scored 59 runs. Babur, who completed his half-century off 39 balls, was dismissed for 70 off 49 balls as Pakistan reached 113 in the 15th over. Fakhar Zaman (5), who came in after Babur, was abruptly lost, but Mohammad Hafeez, who came in at number four, smashed the ball to put Pakistan ahead.
Rizwan, who completed his half-century off 42 balls, smashed all four Namibian bowlers in the final overs to give Pakistan the lead. Rizwan hit 24 runs, including four fours and a six, in the final over off JJ Smith. In the last over, Pakistan scored 130 runs.
Namibia’s JJ Smith gave up 50 runs in four overs while Ruben Trumpman took 36 runs in four overs and David Weiss took 30 runs in four overs.
Last Updated Nov 2, 2021, 11:22 PM IST
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